BATIKS AND OTHER ILLUMINATED TEXTILES
Applied design has been the stabilizing factor in art education. It
gives to art education a tangible reason for its place in the schools.
It injects into every individual and class project the element of
discipline that comes through being required to think in terms of
definite mediums of expression.
[Illustration: {BATIK DESIGN} {p. 75}]
The greatest emphasis, and for this reason perhaps the greatest
success, has been its application in the field of costume designing
and interior decoration. Batiks lay a just claim to having enriched
this phase of art expression. A new creative and illuminating touch
has been given to draperies, covers, cushions, scarfs, wall hangings,
and costumes.
The following pages illustrate and explain a number of these
illuminated objects.
[Illustration: PORTION OF A JAVANESE SARONG {p. 76}]
SARONGS
The sarong decorated with peacocks and vines is characteristic. The
colors are red, blue and light yellow.
END PAPERS
The decoration of the end papers in this book is taken from the design
of a very fine old sarong. The material is cotton. It has the quality
and texture of the rarest batiks. The dyeing is vegetable indigo. Some
of the units were perhaps applied with a tjap, but much of the waxing
was done with single and double spouted tjantings. The ground color is
a soft gray yellow.
SARONG DETAILS
The batik details shown on page 95 are all taken from old sarongs. The
tjanting was used for all these patterns. They are excellent pieces of
native craftsmanship.
The pattern on the left has a yellow gray background. The all-over
dyeing is brown and the spottings dark red.
On the right the upper pattern has yellow gray in the background and
brown decoration, the lower pattern has brown background and yellow
gray decoration.
COSTUME JEWELRY
The band for this ornament, page 78, is made of several layers of
georgette crepe picoted. It is ¾ inch wide and 1 yard long. The
ornament, 1½ x 2⅜ inches, was modeled from "petroplast," the modeling
clay which sets without firing.
[Illustration: BATIKED RIBBON, CAMISOLE, AND COSTUME JEWELRY {p. 78}]
The silk was folded to four thicknesses. The wax was painted in a
variety of interesting shapes on the white goods. Bands in red,
yellow, green and orange were painted with dyes.
The petroplast was modeled smooth and the bird, flowers and pedestal
were incised while the composition was still plastic. When dry it was
dipped in black enamel. The outline of the bird was enameled in yellow
and orange, the flowers painted in purple and blue, the pedestal in
brown.
This adornment was planned to be worn as a necklace to brighten a dark
costume.
COSTUME DECORATION
The costume decoration, page 53, was batiked on yellow taffeta silk.
The design was painted in with wax. The piece outside the decoration
was covered with wax. The material was dipped in a dark brown bath and
finished by ironing between layers of newspapers.
It is suitable for a vest or for millinery.
BLOUSES
1. The blouse, page 84, with a rose design was made of white
crepe-de-chene.
The outline of the decoration was waxed, and the roses and leaves
painted conventionally. The borders and spaces were painted in wax.
The border of the red was painted between waxed outlines.
The fabric was dyed blue, and finished with petroplast beads enameled
in red.
[Illustration: BATIKED BLOUSE {p. 80}]
2. The detail of a georgette crepe blouse, page 87, with a dark
background and all-over decoration in gold, is a suitable design for
yardage. The piece was first dyed gold, and the pattern stopped out
with wax. The dye-bath for the ground color was purple black.
3. The pongee silk blouse, page 80, is a good standard for service and
artistic merit.
The leaves, stems and lower border decoration were painted in wax on
the natural color of the cloth.
The piece was dyed blue, then the flowers and upper border were
stopped out. A brown bath followed, giving as the final color a dark
bronze. The blouse was belted with a bronze silk cord.
4. The crepe-de-chene blouse, page 82, has a rich green background
with an after crackle in an orange bath.
The edges, sleeves and neck are decorated with a narrow orange and
gray band.
Petroplast beads decorated to harmonize with the color of the silk, a
brown cord girdle weighted with these ornaments, picoted edges, and
stitchery of silk floss the same color as the cord finish a garment of
great beauty and dignity.
SILK LINING
The crepe-de-chene lining illustrated on page 85 has a grayed
yellow-green background. The flower motif has yellow, black and orange
in the center, red and purple in the outer parts. The bud is red and
purple. The stem and leaves are blue. These colors were painted within
wax outlines.
[Illustration: BATIKED BLOUSE WITH PETROPLAST ORNAMENTS {p. 82}]
There were eight yards of this lining. When rolling the waxed goods
on the frame, a paper was rolled up with the material to prevent the
wax from sticking.
The lining was used for a full length blue serge cape. After two dry
cleanings, this garment was still fresh and beautiful.
CAMISOLE
1. The camisole, page 78, was made from a 14 x 36-inch piece of white
crepe-de-chene. Half-inch purple ribbon, seven-eighths yard long, made
the shoulder straps; a narrow purple ribbon gathered the top.
2. The design in yellow, brown and green was painted within wax
outlines. The dyeing was in purple, the crackle penetrating the
design.
3. The top was finished with double hemstitching.
BATIKED RIBBON
The ribbon illustrated, page 78, was turquoise blue satin, 7½ x 36
inches.
The design was outlined and parts stopped out. The material was dyed
in a blue dye-bath. The blue was stopped out in the flower shapes. The
material was dyed in a yellow dye-bath. The leaves were stopped out.
The material was dyed in a red dye-bath.
The decoration of the finished ribbon was turquoise blue, gray-blue
and yellow-green. The background was dark olive green.
[Illustration: AN ILLUMINATED BLOUSE WITH PETROPLAST BEADS {p. 84}]
[Illustration: A CAPE LINING {p. 85}]
INTERIOR DECORATION
DOOR CURTAIN
The door curtain illustration, page 75, is a symbolic composition with
a mystic wall and gate, and imaginary birds and a tree.
The color scheme is a black background, blue and purple tree, yellow
and blue birds, a purple and orange fence and gate, and a foreground
of blue, yellow and green.
The design was painted directly upon a good quality of silk, without
guiding lines or waxed outlines. The painting was done very rapidly,
perhaps in ten minutes.
The material was dipped several times, once in yellow, twice in red
(more red was added to the dye-bath after the first red was
exhausted), twice in the blue which was developed the same as the red,
and at last back into the yellow. When the dyeing was completed the
piece was thoroughly rinsed and the wax was removed.
The crackle caused through successive dyeings, the soft edges of the
outlines and the blending of the background with the shapes freed the
piece from the criticism often invited where colors are painted in
large areas.
TABLE COVER
This design, page 89, (21 x 25 inches) consists of two conventional
dogs adapted from the Chinese. The well-chosen colors are yellow and
orange, with accents of black. The border decoration was painted in
light green. Large and small spots suggest the use of the tjanting.
The darkest values are reseda green.
[Illustration: BATIK DETAIL FROM BLOUSE {p. 87}]
The fabric was first dyed yellow. The dogs and spacing of borders
were drawn in fine wax outlines. The dogs were painted orange, with
small shapes of black for accents, and covered with wax. The material
was then dipped in green dye, rinsed and dried.
The decoration for the border was drawn in wax, and the background for
the dogs was also waxed.
In developing a pattern where so much drawing is needed, pains should
be taken to retain the original outlines of the drawing. If the design
is too much obscured after successive dippings, the drawing should
again be transferred. The outline for the dogs and spacings for
borders were saved by waxing. The green decoration on the border was
not painted until after two dippings.
The crackle, tying the whole decoration, is even and adds beauty to
the design.
The beauty of this batik lies in its fitness, its variety of line, its
pleasing space relations and its good color scheme.
ELEPHANT DECORATION
The elephant decoration illustrated on page 91 (27 x 25 inches) was
done on white taffeta. The frame was made of two-inch basswood with a
narrow gilt-edge moulding for a finish. The decoration on the frame
was batiked.
The elephant, with its decoration and border, was outlined in wax.
[Illustration: BATIKED TABLE COVER {p. 89}]
The vertical stripes numbered from left to right were: yellow
(1-3-5-7-9); orange (2-6-10); magenta (4-8). These were painted in and
covered with wax. The fabric was dipped in a dye-bath of grayed
purple.
The design on the frame was painted in wax and the colors in the
design reproduced from the colors in the silk. Most of the wax was
removed with a knife and the balance with a gasoline wash. It was
afterwards finished with a coating of wax.
This wall hanging has a few spots where the treatment was not
thorough. The red stripe under the elephant's head shows unintentional
breaking in the wax. Too much blue crept into many places. It cannot
be emphasized too many times--before painting over the colors with
wax, the colors must be dry.
This work illustrates the success of painting in rather large surfaces
of color without streaks appearing and harmonizing the whole by tying
together with crackle. The design of the elephant and the outside
border are unusually meritorious.
"A TABLE BEFORE ME"
This decoration was drawn on glazed paper and pounced on white china
silk, 40 x 72 inches. There was no painting of colors, the process
being one of dippings only.
The design was outlined in wax. The small spottings, border lines and
markings in the vine were stopped out, and the piece was dipped in a
yellow dye-bath.
Through each dipping a dye record was kept by carrying a small piece
of the goods through the dye-bath. After each dyeing the wax was
carefully mended.
[Illustration: A WALL HANGING WITH BATIKED FRAME {p. 91}]
The bell-like flowers in bands or borders, the flowers at the foot of
the vine, the body, wing, tail and lower part of the bird's legs,
tendrils, dragon fly and border were stopped out, and the piece dyed
orange.
The remaining bands and shapes in the flowers, inside and outside
border, and tendrils were stopped out and the next dipping was blue.
The background and remaining shapes were a lovely warm gray lavender.
Part of the leaves, head of the bird, upper part of the bird's legs,
shapes in the foreground, and roots of the vine were stopped out. The
next dyeing was blue.
The vine, remaining leaves, tendrils, the remainder of the foreground
and spaces that were needed to fill in were drawn in wax.
The wax was removed from the wing and the tail of the bird and the
batik dipped in a dye-bath of deep blue.
The color range in this piece includes red-orange, yellow, blue,
turquoise, two shades of lavender, green and sparkles of white broken
by every color, on a gray-blue background.
The work on this batik extended over a period of two weeks.
"THE CAPTURE"
The frontispiece is worthy of special study.
The material was white pussy willow silk, 40 x 72 inches.
A sketch of the design, 6½ x 10 inches, was made in water colors.
[Illustration: "A TABLE BEFORE ME," BY IDA STRAWN BAKER {p. 93}]
The fabric was freed from sizing and dyed a pale yellow.
It was then stretched in a frame and the three "thunder birds," the
clouds, and a few flowers in the foreground were painted in wax. The
bills, eyes and legs of the birds were painted in with orange dye.
The roadway, parts of the rocks, drapery on the Indian maiden, some of
her decoration, and parts of the foliage, were painted directly on the
silk with yellow or orange dye.
The remaining foliage, more decoration worn by the maiden, the grass,
leaves on the flowers and the stems were painted green.
These shapes were stopped out with wax. Much painting in of shapes was
done with wax. This gave a finish and jewel-like quality to the work
as it progressed.
Before the material was dyed it was soaked in warm water the same
temperature as the dye-bath. The piece was then dyed in a bath of
blue. It was worked constantly for about ten minutes. It was removed
from the dye and rinsed in clear warm water.
After rinsing, the material was placed flat between layers of bath
towels and much of the moisture removed. The drying was finished by
hanging over a waxed line.
The sky and the blue of the border were next stopped out, leaving for
the next bath the pony, the remainder of the Indian maiden, the tree
trunks and other shapes in the foreground.
[Illustration: DETAILS FROM OLD SARONGS {p. 95}]
The frame was placed in an upright position after the custom of
Javanese workers. While waxing, the light shone through and every
uncovered spot was easily seen. A medium sized soft brush was used for
stopping out the large spaces.
Great care was taken to drain the excess wax from the brush. This is
more necessary when the work is erect, as it prevents the wax from
running down the goods.
The third dye-bath was prepared with red and a little yellow. A piece
of the fabric dyed with the last dipping was dyed in this bath to test
the color. The material when dyed in this bath was a rich, red-purple.
After partly drying with bath towels the piece was stretched on the
frame to finish drying.
When thoroughly dry the entire surface was waxed except the mane and
tail of the horse, the hair of the maiden, a few of the jewels, some
details in the foreground, and the ground of the border.
All the broken places in the wax were carefully mended for the final
dipping. The colors for the bath were dark green and black. The piece
was finished by rinsing in warm water, then in cold, and finally by a
gasoline bath.
The work extended over a period of two weeks.
It is a finished piece, rare and beautiful in its illumination.